Tammy the turkey is dressed for dinner.

 I am posting this picture first,so that I may warn those with weak stomachs. This post will be showing a farm raised turkey being dressed. Our friends Jan and Fred gave us one of the turkeys they raised for the Holidays. They also invited us over so that we could learn how to dress it out.

 I saved you the killing part. No reason to gross everyone out. The turkey was so heavy that they used his tractor  to hold it over the can to bleed out.

                          This was the easiest  way to move the bird to the work station .

                              My wonderful husband waiting to get to work.

 This is a great idea. I never would of thought to use a turkey fryer and trash can to boil the water.

 We found out that the perfect temp is 152. To cool and it's harder to pull the feathers. To hot and you cook the skin.

  I couldn't believe how easy the feathers came off. You could almost just wipe them off.

                               Fred sprayed the inside and outside to make sure it was clean.

                Fred weighed himself with the bird then without to get the weight of the bird.

Fred and Jan's bird weighted out at 32 pounds 

Our bird weighted 24 pounds after being dressed. Any bigger and it probably won't of fit in my roaster. We owe Fred and Jan a big thank you. Not just for the bird, but also for their great friendship .

BRINE RECIPE:

1/2 cup salt and sugar to every gallon of water.

3 apples quartered

4 oranges quartered

1 large onion quartered

sage leaves

thyme leaves

savory

rosemary

I don't measure the herds. I just cover the floor of the cooler with a thin cover of them .

Half a bottle of apple juice

Half a bottle of orange juice.

ice

None of theses amounts are written in stone.  ( Jan added mint to her's ,I didn't. ) It's all up to you and what you like.